Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an iron golf club. More specifically, the present invention relates to a multiple material iron golf club.
2. Description of the Related Art
Irons are typically composed of a stainless steel or titanium material, and are typically cast or forged. Most golfers desire that their irons have a large sweet spot for greater forgiveness, a low center of gravity to get the ball in the air, a solid sound, reduced vibrations during impact, and a trim top line for appearance. Unfortunately, these desires are often in conflict with each other as it pertains to an iron.
The use of iron club heads composed of different materials has allowed some prior art irons to achieve some of these desires.
One example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,694 to Okumoto et al., which discloses an iron club head composed of a stainless steel sole and hosel, a core composed of a bulk molding compound or the like, a weight composed of a tungsten and polyamide resin, and an outer-shell composed of a fiber-reinforced resin.
Another example is set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,792,139, 4,798,383, 4,792,139 and 4,884,812, all to Nagasaki, et al., which disclose an iron club head composed of stainless steel with a fiber reinforced plastic back plate to allow for weight adjustment and ideal inertia moment adjustment.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,747 which discloses a metal iron club head with a carbon fiber reinforced plastic back plate to increase the sweet spot. A ring is used to fix the position of the back plate.
Another example is set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,928,972 and 4,964,640 which disclose an iron club head composed of stainless steel with a fiber reinforcement in a rear recess to provide a dampening means for shock and vibrations, a means for increasing the inertial moment, a means for adjusting the center of gravity and a means for reinforcing the back plate. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,290 to Take, which discloses an iron club head with a metal body, a filling member composed of a light weight material such as a plastic, and a fiber-reinforced resin molded on the metal body and the filling member.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,264 to Oku, which discloses a metal body with a backwardly extended flange and an elastic fiber face plate in order to increase the moment of inertia and minimize head vibrations.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,201 to Aizawa et al., which discloses an iron club head with a body composed of stainless steel, a face member composed of a fiber reinforced resin and a protective layer composed of a metal, in order to provide a deep center of gravity and reduce shocks.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,106 to Meyer, which discloses an iron golf club head with a metal blade portion and hosel composed of a lightweight material such as a fiber reinforced resin.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,383 to Aizawa et al., which discloses an iron golf club head with a metal core covered with multiple layers of a reinforced synthetic resin in order to provide greater ball hitting distance.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,963 to Yoneyama, which discloses an iron golf club head with a metal sole and a filling member composed of a fiber reinforced resins material in order to provide greater hitting distance.
The prior art fails to disclose an iron golf club head that is composed of multiple materials, has a low center of gravity, reduced vibrations, and a greater moment of inertia.
The present invention provides an iron golf club head which has a low center of gravity, a high moment of inertia, reduced vibrations and a solid feel and appearance. The present invention is able to provide these features through use of a multiple material iron club head.
One aspect of the present invention is an iron golf club head composed of a periphery member, a central member and a face plate. The periphery member is composed of a metal material. The periphery member has a sole wall, a toe wall extended upward from the sole wall at a first end of the sole wall, a hosel extending upward from the sole wall at a second end of the sole wall, and a heel wall extending upward from the sole wall. The central member is composed of a non-metal material. The central member has a body portion with a forward surface, a sole surface, a top surface, a toe surface, a heel surface and a flange extending from the top surface at an intersection of the top surface and the forward surface. The central member has a rear cavity defined by the body portion. The face plate is composed of a metal material and is disposed over the forward surface of the central member. A top line of the face plate is in contact with the flange of the central member.
Having briefly described the present invention, the above and further objects, features and advantages thereof will be recognized by those skilled in the pertinent art from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.